Rockland
A combination of rock and land, suggesting terrain with rocky landscapes.
Name Census estimates that about 224 living Americans carry the first name Rockland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rockland today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rockland births was 1954 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rockland. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
224
~ 1 in 1,530,153 Americans
Peak year
1954
14 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,725
Tracked since 1945
Census
Rockland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 260 people with the first name Rockland, which placed it at #32,383 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#32,383
National first-name rank
People counted
260
260 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rockland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rockland is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.1%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rockland described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rockland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.6% · 207
- Black or African American8.1% · 21
- Two or more races3.8% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 6
Popularity
Rockland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rockland from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 89 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Rockland remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rockland by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rockland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rockland
The name Rockland is an English place name that originated in the late 18th century. It is derived from the Old English words "rocc" meaning rock or rocky terrain, and "land" referring to an area of land. The name likely emerged as a descriptor for rocky or hilly regions in parts of England, and later became adopted as a given name.
While not a common given name historically, there are a few notable individuals who bore the first name Rockland. One of the earliest recorded examples is Rockland Powell, an English cartographer and surveyor who lived in the late 1700s and produced maps of various counties in England.
Another early bearer of the name was Rockland Winrow, a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. He was involved in several notable battles against the French and was commended for his bravery and leadership.
In the 19th century, Rockland Hoar was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1835 to 1837. Rockland Hoar was also an outspoken abolitionist and played a role in the anti-slavery movement.
Rockland Toke Lyttelton, born in 1837, was a British aristocrat and politician. He served as a member of parliament and held various government positions throughout his career. Lyttelton was also a renowned sportsman and played first-class cricket for several English county teams.
In the early 20th century, Rockland Buckingham was an American artist and illustrator. He was particularly known for his paintings and illustrations depicting scenes from the American West and Native American life. Buckingham's work was widely published in magazines and books during his lifetime.
While not a name with extensive historical usage, Rockland has been borne by a few notable individuals throughout the centuries. Its origins as a place name and the combination of the English words for rock and land reflect its connection to geographical features and locations.
People
Rockland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rockland as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rockland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rockland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rockland going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,530,153 US residents.
Is Rockland a common name?
We classify Rockland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 262 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rockland most popular?
The single biggest year for Rockland was 1954, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rockland is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rockland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 260 people with the name Rockland, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,383 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rockland in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rockland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rockland appears almost entirely male. Of the 252 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rockland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rockland is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.1%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rockland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rockland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (207 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rockland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rockland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rockland in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rockland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rockland in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rockland can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Rockland?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.